


As long as you're with me, you'll be just fine

by lisa6



Category: Raven Cycle - Maggie Stiefvater
Genre: Adam Parrish being out and proud, Alternate Universe - College/University, Coming Out, Everyone Is Alive, Getting Together, Jealousy, M/M, Not Canon Compliant, OOC, Ronan Lynch is Bad at Feelings, Ronan Lynch-centric, besides Ronan's parents
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-09-16
Updated: 2019-10-24
Packaged: 2020-10-19 23:14:10
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 5,247
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20665403
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lisa6/pseuds/lisa6
Summary: Ronan visits Gansey at college and meets a cute boy who may or may not help him come to terms with his sexuality.





	1. day one

**Author's Note:**

> Hi! Another chaptered fic, because it's not like I don't have any other ones to finish.

‘Is this really necessary?’ Ronan asked as soon as Chloe had left. She’d stood too close to him; Ronan had been able to feel her soft breasts against his arm, and when she’d asked if he wanted to fuck her, he’d seen a red lipstick stain on her pearly teeth. To cap it all, Gansey had been buttonholed by a group of frat boys wearing polo shirts so bright even he had looked slightly startled. There was a DJ wearing fucking Gucci slippers and playing shit music. Ronan hated it here.

‘Just pretend you’re having fun,’ Gansey said.

‘And steal your number?’

Gansey bit the inside of his cheek.

‘Man, you don’t have to be here if you hate it,’ Ronan told him.

‘I don’t hate it.’ Gansey was a good liar but Ronan had known him since they were kids and he hadn’t ever managed to give up the hints; he still dug his fingernails into his palms and his teeth into his bottom lip.

‘Sure.’ Ronan watched a guy snort a line of coke off a pool table and raised a brow at Gansey, who neatly avoided meeting his eye and made his way through the throng. ‘That Parrish?’

Gansey rolled his eyes. ‘I said he dealt, not that he used. Also, weed, not coke.’

‘It’s funny you’re so bent on introducing me to the guy. You know, seeing as you hated Kavinsky.’

Gansey stopped and turned around, glaring. It was hard to take him seriously in his salmon sweater and white pants but, out of love for him, Ronan at least tried. ‘Kavinsky was a dealer _and_ a user, and he wasn’t good for you.’

Ronan gave a one-shouldered shrug, noncommittal. A guy in a tweed vest (seriously, what the fuck) approached them. He had orange hair and a large nose and there was a wide smile on his face. Maybe he’s high — it’s difficult to see his pupils in the mostly dark house. He greeted Gansey just like the members of his row team at Aglionby used to do and proceeded to hand him a tumbler full of top-shelf scotch, which made Ronan turn his face to hide his sneer.

_Mistake_, he told himself as soon as his eyes caught those of another student. They were a blue, so much bluer than any other pair of eyes Ronan had ever seen, and _that_ had been easy to spot, despite the relative darkness. The feeling they elicited in Ronan was neither icy nor hot, but also no in-between. He looked away hastily.

‘I really don’t know, Mitch, sorry,’ Gansey was saying, too-polite in the way he sometimes was when he was pissed off. Ronan glanced at Mitch.

‘You’re Mitch?’ he asked.

Mitch turned to him, cocking a red eyebrow. ‘Mitchell Gerstein, yes,’ he said, as if his surname was supposed to mean anything to Ronan. He sounded tired, as though he’d expected to be recognized and considered it a hassle to talk to who he seemed to deem admirers.

‘Oh,’ Ronan said. ‘You don’t have any herpes, do you?’

Now Mitch’s second eyebrow joined the first one high on his forehead. ‘No?’

Ronan nodded once, sharply. ‘I thought so.’ He turned to Gansey while he raised his hand and waited, palm-up. ‘You owe my fifty dollars, Gans.’

Gansey sucked on his teeth as he regarded Ronan. Ronan could tell he was suppressing a grin: there was a hint of dimples in his cheeks. Affecting a deep sigh, he reached into his pants pocket, pulled out a neatly folded fifty dollar bill and put it into Ronan’s waiting hand.

‘Who told you that?’ Mitch asked.

Gansey shrugged. ‘Josie. Said that first, you couldn’t get it up, and second, you gave her herpes.’

‘That bitch,’ Mitch hissed. Ronan watched him leave.

‘That was so unnecessary,’ mumbled Gansey. He was grinning.

‘You wanted him gone, didn’t you?’ Ronan asked. ‘You’re welcome.’

‘I feel terrible.’

Ronan glanced at him. Then, he looked at him. Gansey was good-looking, broad-shouldered and just an inch shorter than Ronan. He had trusting hazel eyes, a nice smile and really good hair. It was annoying. Ronan’s hands itched. He really wanted to call Declan, just to be shitty and force his brother to be shitty right back. A fight would be nice now. Instead he stole Gansey’s scotch and downed it all in one go.

‘Can we leave now?’ he asked. ‘It’s been fucking ages.’

Gansey checked his gold wristwatch. ‘Technically, it’s been thirty-eight minutes.’

‘Don’t be an asshole. This place sucks. You’re not really selling me this Harvard party shit.’

‘That’s because I haven’t found Adam yet.’

‘Jesus, what’s so special about him?’ Ronan asked. ‘If he’s anything like—’

Gansey laughed. There was something strange about the way he was looking at Ronan, and it made him irritable. ‘He’s not.’

It took another half-hour of pointless conversations with fellow students that Gansey bravely suffered through until he finally found who he’d been looking for all evening. It turned out that Adam Parrish at one point tonight had not been that far away from them; Ronan recognized those blue eyes immediately.

‘Adam!’ Gansey said, holding his fist out for Parrish to bump and afterwards put his hand on Ronan’s shoulder, pulling him a step forward. ‘This is my friend from home, Ronan.’

Unlike most other students that Ronan had come across tonight, Adam wasn’t wearing any hideous colors or trying out questionable fashion trends. Instead he worse a simple white T-shirt, light blue jeans and once-white sneakers. There were no tattoos on his sun-kissed skin, no jewelry around his neck, no hints of substance abuse in his eyes or around his nostrils. In fact, he didn’t even look drunk. He bore no similarity to Kavinsky at all.

Unsure, Ronan glanced at Gansey. Maybe he’d been kidding when he’d said that Adam dealt, but then Adam spotted a guy passing them, reached out to hold him by his arm and said, ‘Jackson, you owe me three hundred bucks.’

The guy, Jackson, blinked. Even standing still, he staggered a little. ‘Hey, Parrish. How’re you, dude?’

‘You hear me?’

‘Yeah, yeah, man. ‘Course. God, this party’s nice, yeah?’

‘I want it before finals start,’ Adam said.

‘A wild…party, man. Wild.’

Ronan was inclined to disagree. Adam was the most interesting thing yet, although, at the same time, he made Ronan want to leave even more.

‘Just like in London, man. You ever been? In London, I mean. So…wild. The girls…also. They’re wild…in London.’

Gansey glanced at Ronan. When he caught his eye, he rolled his eyes ceiling-ward. Ronan smirked.

‘What about the cash?’ Adam asked.

‘I’m good for it, Parrish. You know I am. Tomorrow.’

‘Seriously,’ Adam said. ‘I’m a scholarship student, man. I need the money.’

‘Wild,’ Jackson sighed and tried to leave. Adam let him go.

‘Sorry,’ he told Gansey.

‘You’re jeopardizing your scholarship,’ Gansey said. ‘Be careful.’

Adam gave him a look before his attention snagged on Ronan. There was a twitch to his eyebrows as he studied him, and another one to one corner of his mouth when he was done. Ronan tried to ignore the rapidness of his pulse, and couldn’t. He felt sick, and then felt a scourge somewhere deep in the pit of his stomach. Or maybe it was high up in his torso, near his heart.

‘Ronan?’ Adam asked, smiling fully now. His eyes glistened in the little light. ‘Hi.’

Ronan didn’t trust his voice, so all he did was nod. Betrayal scratched at the back of his throat and he had to try really hard not to glare at Gansey out of fear of giving himself away. Had Gansey noticed? Was it his intention to make Ronan feel like shit because of it? He’d been so careful, had he not? Perhaps he’d become careless with his glances, or maybe Gansey had heard his heart beating fast last week, when he’d eventually fallen asleep on Ronan after they’d both been up till early morning.

‘Nice to meet you,’ Adam said. He had a nice voice, deep and not, kind of idle, kind of impish. And he was eyeing him again, Ronan noticed.

‘Yeah, you too,’ he murmured. Adam’s eyes met his; his smile grew.

‘Ronan does electronic distance learning. Zoology,’ Gansey explained. ‘He’s taking care of his family’s farm in Virginia.’

Ronan’s strength of will broke. He glared at Gansey.

‘Virginia, huh?’ Adam asked. A sweet southern drawl had creeped into his speech. ‘’s where I’m from, too.’

Ronan stared at him, blinking, as he tried to get rid of the heat washing through his veins. He couldn’t believe he was attracted to someone introduced to him by _Gansey_ of all people. Gansey, who pulled well-bred rich girls, but ended up crushing on a girl with a fashion sense just as terrible as his and then kept getting rejected by her. This could not be his life.

‘Ronan stole my drink, so I’m going to get a new one. Anyone else want one?’

‘No,’ Adam said, not taking his eyes off Ronan.

‘Yes,’ Ronan said, not taking his eyes off Adam.

Out of the corner of his eye, Ronan saw Gansey smile and leave. Adam’s mouth looked pretty. Adam looked pretty. There were faint freckles spattered across the bridge of his nose and his cheekbones, and a single tiny, barely-there one right below his lower lip. He had pale eyelashes and light brown hair. Ronan couldn’t deal with this. He looked away.

‘I’ve never seen you here before.’

‘It’s the first time I let Gansey drag me to one of those parties.’

Adam laughed. ‘First and last time?’

‘Yes.’ Decisive. It made Adam laugh again.

‘I can tell. You look like you hate it.’

Ronan shrugged.

‘You also look really good,’ Adam continued. Ronan froze; his body burned. ‘The best looking one here. It’s a shame I won’t get to have that thought again.’

Ronan looked up at him, frowning. ‘What?’

‘Did I— I’m sorry, am I wrong about you?’

The heat in Ronan’s body rolled off in waves. It happened quickly. Cold dread replaced it, and it made Ronan bristle, made him anxious. He looked around. Gansey was nowhere to be seen yet. ‘What the fuck are you saying?’

Adam titled his head. ‘I thought you were like me.’

Ronan shook his head, raising his eyebrows. He knew what Adam meant. He needed to make sure he was right.

‘Attracted to guys.’

Ronan wanted to say something, anything, but his brain had shut down and he couldn’t even form any thoughts. He needed to go. His body moved on autopilot; he turned around and made his way out of the house. His knees felt weak, his skin too tight. He’d had one scotch and one beer. He could drive. There were no keys in his jeans pocket. How had they gotten here? Ronan stopped, forced himself to take a deep breath. The Camaro. They’d broken down on the way, and Ronan remembered the thrill shooting through him when Gansey had cussed particularly nastily.

‘Hey! Hey, I’m sorry,’ Adam said, slightly breathlessly. He’d run after him, Ronan realized and it left him feeling off-balance. ‘I didn’t mean to—I’m sorry. Wishful thinking, I guess. Fuck, sorry.’ He winced. ‘I didn’t mean to make you uncomfortable. My—God, I hate that word, but my _gaydar_ is usually pretty reliable.’

‘It’s cool,’ Ronan said.

Adam nodded faintly. He didn’t look eminently sorry. If anything, he looked cautious, like one would if one were standing between a frightened, potentially dangerous animal and its only way to safety. He pushed his hands into his jeans pockets and gave a little shrug. ‘Gansey’s been going on and on for weeks about how excited he is to have you here, so…wanna go back inside?’

Ronan considered this for a moment. ‘I want to buy some weed.’

Adam titled his head back to stare at the star-studded sky. ‘No. I’m not selling to you.’

‘What? Why?’

‘You know why,’ he said, and Ronan saw he was smiling. He did not grow a lot of facial hair, Ronan guessed. There was very little stubble. The skin at his jawline and throat was smooth and clean. Ronan dropped his gaze and stared at the pebbles under his feet.

‘Fucking Gansey.’

He heard Adam laugh. ‘Drugs are stupid.’

‘You’re a shit dealer.’

Adam was still laughing quietly. ‘I sell weed to trust fund kids, and only the ones I don’t know. Drugs are stupid, and so are the ones using them.’

‘You including alcohol in that category?’ Ronan asked. ‘Cause you’re sober, right?’

Adam’s laughter ebbed away. ‘Uh,’ he said, scratching his underarm and looking around before sitting down on the curb. ‘Yeah. It’s a long story. I’ll spare you the details.’ He grinned up at Ronan, but the light in his eyes had alleviated somewhat. Still, he patted the asphalt next to him. The hairs on his arms were a lighter brown than the ones on top of his head. He had long, slightly crooked fingers, and jutting thumbs. ‘Want to hang out with me for a bit? I swear I’ll stop hitting on you.’

Ronan’s eyes darted from his hand back up to his face.

‘Come here.’

He sat down. Their shoulders pressed against each other; Ronan felt Adam’s body warmth seep through the thin fabric of his T-shirt. It was humid outside, and there was a faint glistening to the hollow of Adam’s throat and the crook of his arm. Ronan had to tear his gaze away.

‘You don’t sound like a country boy.’

Ronan didn’t know what to say to that without being offensive — _I never used to hang out with the kids who did _or _Gansey and I went to a fancy private school where everyone was from Richmond or D.C. or Miami or New York and made fun of the locals _— so he settled for silence. He was good at that.

Adam didn’t seem to mind. He leaned back on his hands. Ronan, feeling safer, looked at him. The veins along the soft skin of his underarms looked fainter and greener than Ronan’s more prominent blue ones. His T-shirt stretched over his stomach; he was lean, and there were slightly defined abs rising and falling with every breath he took whereas Ronan was a little broader, more muscular. He felt dry-mouthed looking at Adam.

‘I’m not… homophobic,’ Ronan said. The words had tumbled out of his mouth against his will, but he felt better once they had. ‘I didn’t mind you hitting on me.’

Ronan didn’t realize what that sounded like until, a moment later, Adam turned his head to look at him, eyebrows raised, and gave a quiet snort. He didn’t—as Ronan had feared—laugh at him or say something stupid like_ I knew I was right about you_ in return.

Ronan began to twist his fingers in the leather bands around his wrists, frustrated with himself and his inability to find the right words, ever.

Adam wasn’t looking at him anymore, although this time it felt more deliberate. Ronan is glad; he didn’t think he’d be able to hold that blue-eyed gaze of his any longer. He’s too beautiful, a dream come true —half breathtaking, half heartbreaking.

‘That’s cool, man. I didn’t think you were.’

Ronan took a deep breath. Opened his mouth. Closed it again, and then kept it shut when, thankfully, Adam’s phone beeped and saved Ronan from making an even bigger fool of himself. He watched as Adam reached inside his jeans pocket and pulled out an iPhone model Ronan had once owned several years ago. It’s got a terribly cracked screen, but somehow Adam’s still able to read the text message he’d been sent.

‘Gansey wants to know if you’ve fled,’ he said, ‘also he’s asking for help because he won’t survive another one of William’s tirades about that abortion his girlfriend had.’

‘You’re all nuts.’

Adam laughed, pocketing his phone and closing his hand around Ronan’s wrist as he’s getting up. ‘Come on, let’s save him.’

Ronan lets himself be dragged back into the house, warmed all over just by Adam’s hand still holding on to him. He’d have risked staring at the contrasting skin tones if it hadn’t meant possibly bumping into everyone and everything in their way. Once inside, it doesn’t take them long to spot Gansey in the sea of students; he’s always stood out, a prince among commoners.

‘I’m just saying,’ Ronan heard one of the guys with Gansey say as he and Adam approached them, ‘why do you have to fly to Italy to get an abortion?’

‘Dude, it’s Julie,’ another one said, as if that was explanation enough. ‘How can you even be sure it’s yours?’

The third guy laughed. ‘Max is right. Julie’s a slut.’

‘I like Julie,’ Gansey said and took a sip of his beer.

‘Also, she doesn’t fuck half as many guys as you do girls,’ Adam interposed once they were close enough. Something deep inside of Ronan lit up at Adam’s choice of words, and he deflated a little when Adam’s grip around his wrist loosened until it fell away completely.

One of the guys opened his mouth to respond, his green eyes shining with amusement, but Gansey was already moving to hand his beer over to him and turn to Adam and Ronan. ‘There you are! Ready to leave?’

‘_Please_,’ Ronan said.

‘Adam, you wanna come with?’

Ronan looked at him, but Adam was studying the guy with the green eyes. He was the shortest of them all, but he had really tan arms and light blonde hair. He wore a cobalt blue sweater with a yellow shirt underneath, which made Ronan feel embarrassed on his behalf.

‘There’s another party down the street at Wilmington,’ the guy said, voice going up at the end like he’s proposing a question. His attention was entirely focused on Adam, which annoyed Ronan and made him feel embarrassed on his own behalf.

‘I’m in,’ Adam said, and smiled a little when the other guy lit up in response.

‘Alright. Looks like it’s just us, then, Lynch,’ Gansey said, throwing an arm over Ronan’s shoulders. With his free hand, he bumped Adam’s offered fist before lifting and resting it on Ronan’s other shoulder to steer him away from the others. The last glimpse of Adam that Ronan caught was him getting dragged away by the blonde guy.


	2. day two

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ronan is left powerless.

‘Jesus Christ, Gansey,’ Ronan groaned, tipping his head back. ‘You can go. I can take care of myself.’

‘I know that,’ Gansey argued. The microwave beeped; Gansey walked over to get his oatmeal out of it. He ran a spoon full of peanut butter through the mushy mixture and swore quietly when he almost burned himself holding the hot bowl. Ronan, leaning against the kitchen island, watched him with both of his brows furrowed. ‘I’m just really happy you’re here and it seems ill-mannered to leave you alone in my apartment.’

Ronan rolled his eyes. ‘Don’t make me your excuse to avoid social contact.’

‘Don’t be shitty,’ Gansey retorted, filling two cups with coffee. ‘Still black?’ he asked and, at Ronan’s nod, handed one of them to him. Opening the fridge, he got out a bottle of milk, unscrewed the cap, sniffed it and then quickly screwed it back up.

‘Helen would kill you if she saw this.’

‘Helen,’ Gansey scoffed into his cup, ‘is apparently dating your brother.’

‘Point.’ Ronan shrugged. ‘She’s really not in the position to deplore gross behavior.’

Over the rim of his cup, Gansey grinned at him. Ronan took the milk and emptied it out into the sink. There were still few-day-old dirty dishes in there that Ronan made a mental note he’d wash as soon as Gansey was out of the door.

‘You know what’s ill-mannered?’ he asked. ‘Inviting guests over when your apartment is disgusting.’

‘But it’s you.’

Ronan looked up. ‘Dick.’

Gansey laughed. ‘Not what I meant. Just— you’re not a guest, obviously. You’re, uh, the brother I never had but always wished for. You know, a sibling that wouldn’t disappoint me by dating a guy like Declan.’

Ronan turned on the faucet, pointedly keeping his eyes on the bottle as he washed it out. ‘Please don’t ever say anything like that ever again.’

Gansey laughed again, this time around a spoonful of oatmeal. He sat down on one of the chairs around his kitchen island and kicked Ronan’s shin to call his attention to himself. ‘A guy _like_ Declan, not Declan himself obviously. Thanks for making it weird. What I was saying is that any other type of guy’d be fine, you know? Well, okay, that’s not entirely true. I wouldn’t want you to date a guy like Kavinsky either. Of course I only want the best for you and that’s definitely not him. You could definitely do much better than—’

‘Gansey,’ Ronan interrupted, feeling cold all over. His shoulders had tensed so extremely that the muscles in his shoulders and neck felt sore already. Icy dread was pooling in the pit of his stomach, slowly climbing up his torso and pressing into his chest so that breathing became difficult. ‘What the fuck are you talking about?’

‘Nothing, nothing.’ His eyes darted to the clock, and widened. ‘Oh, shit! I’ve gotta go.’ He dropped his bowl and coffee cup into the sink with a clatter that made Ronan wince and quickly grabbed his journal and keys. ‘Look, I’ll be back in a few hours.’

‘Yes, daddy.’

Gansey mimicked throwing up, but the corners of his mouth were pulled up in a handsome, wry smile. ‘God, you’re the worst. Bye, Lynch!’

The door clicked shut behind him and Ronan breathed in through his nose, out through his mouth. He was dizzy and still felt his rapid heartbeat in his throat and his temples. He leaned forward, resting his weight on his hands where they were curled around the edge of the sink, and closed his eyes. Counted to ten. Counted to twenty. Thirty, when he found that it still wasn’t enough.

Did Gansey _know_? Had Ronan slipped up somewhere along the line?

Ronan rubbed his palms over his face, desperate to get rid of the anxiety still raging inside of him. He turned on the faucet, let the sink fill with water and began to wash Gansey’s dishes. One of the glasses broke when he accidentally hit it against the edge of the sink and Ronan, still stuck in his nervous state, automatically grabbed for it, careless of the sharp broken glass; he ended up having to bandage his right hand after the shard had cut the skin of the palm of his hand.

Still, all of that took nowhere near long enough to put him at ease, so he turned to the fridge to see what was inside. Butter, sausages, cheese, eggs and rice that Gansey had had three days ago sat on the top shelf, so Ronan took it out, flung a kitchen towel over his shoulder and started to make kielbasa fried rice. Ronan was a quick cook and the recipe was easy enough, so by the time he was done he was still feeling on edge. He put a lid on the pan and thought about taking a shower, calling Noah or jerking off or doing any number of things. In the end, he headed to the guest room, changed into running apparel, grabbed his iPhone and AirPods and left the apartment.

Ronan took a cold shower as soon as he was back, standing under the water until his breathing returned to normal and his skin cooled down enough for goosebumps to erupt all over it, exhaustion-induced pink paling down to ivory.

When he heard the sound of the front door opening he turned the water off, wrapped a towel around his waist and stepped out of the bathroom, expecting Gansey to have come home. But it wasn’t Gansey standing right before Ronan, in a soft-looking, nicely fitting grey sweater, light blue jeans and white sneakers. He looked gentle in the golden late afternoon sunshine that’s made flimsy by dusty windows and half-transparent cream-colored curtains. It felt like a trap; Adam wasn’t a gentle creature and the feelings he was causing Ronan, swirling deep down in his stomach and heating up his body, weren’t gentle either.

He’d frozen in the open doorway, glittering key in one had, an old leather-bound book in the other. His eyes—their vivid blue as disarming as the first time—widened when he saw him. Ronan’s knees weakened at the sight of sun-kissed skin, barely-there freckles, pale eyebrows.

Adam’s gaze drifted down Ronan’s body. Unsure, Ronan looked down at himself, curling his fingers around the place he’d fastened the towel, just to be on the safe side, and desperately prayed for his dick to not betray him. He really should have jerked off earlier.

‘Sorry,’ Adam mumbled, eyes still fixed on Ronan’s torso, before he blinked and shook his head secretly but noticeably. When he looked up at Ronan’s face again, his cheeks looked slightly flushed, his mouth softer around the corners, as though his lips wouldn’t object to getting pried apart by another pair of careful lips, by a warm tongue. ‘I didn’t—I should’ve rung the bell. Sorry.’

Ronan watched as Adam bent to set the book down on the already cluttered coffee table. There was a carafe on its surface, sunlight reflecting off the water inside of it and shivering on Adam’s forearm; it illuminated the blonde hairs there and Ronan had to look away.

‘It’s fine,’ he said, stepping further into the living room and sat down on one of Gansey’s ancient, light brown leather couches. ‘Gansey isn’t here, though.’

‘I know. He, uh—he asked me to drop this off,’ Adam said, unnecessarily nodding in the direction of the book. His eyes were studiously fixed on Ronan’s face. Ronan was both grateful and disappointed.

‘Okay.’

Adam glanced at the kitchen. ‘Did you cook?’

‘Yeah.’

‘Can you cook?’ he asked, eyes narrowing at Ronan. Ronan wasn’t sure if he sounded skeptical, like he couldn’t believe Ronan was capable of fixing a decent meal, or resigned, like he didn’t really want to know the answer at all.

‘Don’t be so old-fashioned, Parrish. It’s 2019. Guys can cook, too.’

Adam pressed his lips together but Ronan still noticed the subtle hint of laughter lines that meant that Adam hadn’t entirely succeed in suppressing his smile.

‘Hey, would you mind me staying for a bit? My roommate’s got a girl over and I’m not too keen on listening to them having sex when I’m not getting any.’

That was a seriously stupid thing to say, Ronan thought. For one thing, he had no doubt that Adam could get laid within the snap of a finger; the idea that someone might not be interested in Adam seemed impossible. For another thing, Adam saying that meant that Ronan couldn’t help the images that flashed through his mind and that, too, was stupid; Adam laid out, too much naked skin on display, kiss-swollen lips pink and parted, cheeks and chest flushed, his voice breathy and close, so close, tickling Ronan’s ear as his beautiful hands held his head in place, narrow hips moving upwards, hard and hot where he’s pressing against Ronan’s ass.

Ronan’s dick twitched. Subtly, he moved the towel and rolled his eyes ceiling-ward and thought: _Why, please God, why?_

‘Yeah, sure.’

‘Thanks. Henry’s a bit of a—well, he’s not quiet. Which is fine, he’s not thirteen and secretly jerking off in his parents’ house, but. Yeah.’

‘Yeah,’ Ronan agreed, getting up. ‘I’m gonna get dressed.’ He left Adam behind, still standing somewhat awkwardly in the middle of the living room, and firmly closed the door behind himself when he’s in his room. He shut his eyes and pressed the heels of his clammy, shaky hands against them. He was hard. Outside, he heard a phone ring and then, once it stopped, the distant murmur of Adam’s voice, which Ronan could admit sounded so pretty that it wasn’t going to help him get rid of his boner, so he began humming _A Great Day for the Irish_ under his breath and flexing the muscles in his thighs.

‘Okay,’ Adam was saying, ‘I can do that…Hm-mmh…Tonight, 7 PM?…Yeah, I’ll be there. Can’t wait to see you, babe.’ He exhaled on a laugh that would’ve lit Ronan up inside if he hadn’t heard him speak as well. Snap-of-a-finger. Ronan’s erection had flagged.

He put on a pair of black sweatpants and a matching sweatshirt before returning to the living room. Adam had sat down on Gansey’s ugly armchair and was tapping away on his phone. When he noticed Ronan’s presence, he dropped it into his lap and grinned up at him.

‘Gotten cold?’ he asked. It had been the opposite, and Ronan wondered if he knew, if he’d been too obvious.

He nodded, faking indifference, as he sat down on the couch across from him.

‘A friend of mine just called me to ask if I wanted to hang out with her tonight. We’re going to a bar. You wanna come?’

Ronan shot him a look. ‘I don’t know what Gansey’s got planned,’ he said, which was the truth, but Ronan normally wouldn’t have cared.

‘Oh, he’s going to want to come,’ Adam said, smiling archly. ‘Blue’ll be there.’

‘She the chick he’s into?’ Ronan asked. ‘Thought her name was Jane.’

‘They’re the same person. Dick and Jane, you know? Gansey thinks it’s funny.’

‘He also thinks documentaries about the British monarchy are informative.’

Adam grinned another one of his sly smiles. ‘And you don’t?’

‘I can’t imagine—’ Ronan said, leaning back ‘—anything duller. Why the fuck should I care about a bunch of people who haven’t done anything to earn the accumulated wealth they have at their disposal? Also, the whole concept is seriously fucking outdated. You know those people who watch military parades and weddings? I don’t get it. Who gives a fuck if someone’s waving their hand from a balcony?’

Meanwhile, Adam’s sly smile had turned into an open-mouthed, carefree laugh that made Ronan’s heart flutter.

‘I understand it now,’ Adam said, voice warm. His eyes, when he leaned forward a little and they caught the sunshine, were glistening.

‘Understand what?’

‘Why Gansey likes you so much.’

Ronan tried to fight the blush he felt creeping onto his cheeks, pinking and warming his skin all the way to the tips of his ears and down to the nape of his neck.

‘Cute, but flattery won’t get you in my pants, Parrish,’ he returned, and then promptly lost the fight; why the hell couldn’t he stop talking like that? Was he flirting? Did it matter if he was? Was Adam going to flirt back? Would it matter if he did?

But Adam smiled back at him, and his bottom lip was a little wet where he’d licked it, and his lashes were gold, his freckles so, so beautiful, and he was toying with the key between his long, crooked fingers, and somehow the knot that had formed somewhere in Ronan’s chest eased a little. ‘Will it help me convince you to go out with us tonight, though?’

Ronan, powerless in the face of Adam’s beauty, was unable to say anything other than yes.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for all of your kind words! I hope you like this chapter, too. (Also I'm still not entirely sure about how many chapters this work will have but, looking at my outline, it'll be 10 at most, and the following chapters will be 5k+ words each.)
> 
> Again, thanks! And please, if you have a moment, let me know what you though about this chapter so far. :)

**Author's Note:**

> Please let me know what you thought, if you have some time :)


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